Closings

Severe Weather

Deputies: Double-shooting linked to discovery of kittens in freezer

Published On: Dec 04 2012 04:39:43 PM EST

Rodney Blanchard was arrested on Dec. 2, accused of keeping several kittens in plastic bags in the freezer of his Florida mobile home.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -

A simple request for a cold beer led to the discovery of kittens in the freezer of a man's mobile home, a crime that investigators are linking to a double-shooting at another mobile home park nearby just a day earlier, according to a report.

Pinellas County deputies were called to the Sunshine Mobile Home Park in St. Petersburg on Saturday to investigate a double shooting. They said Damian William Blanchard, 24, was "'directly involved' in the shootings and called the victims out of their home before they were shot," a sheriff's spokeswoman told theledger.com.

The next day, according to that article, deputies were called to another mobile home park nearby to investigate a claim of animal cruelty. It turned out that Rodney Blanchard, the 49-year-old father of William Blanchard, asked his friend, Eva Mulder, to grab a beer for him. When she did, she heard the meows of kittens in the freezer in his mobile home, theledger.com reported.

Mulder found several kittens in plastic bags; three of them were still alive and one was dead. The elder Blanchard told arresting deputies "he didn't know what he was thinking" and that the cats were "in timeout," the spokeswoman said.

All this reportedly started when a roommate of the Blanchards', 55-year-old Francis James Bahr, sought revenge on a woman who rejected his romantic advances, deputies said, though it's not clear if putting animals in a freezer had anything to do with Bahr's apparent jealousy.

Rodney Blanchard is charged with animal cruelty and batter charges, and Bahr and Damian Blanchard are facing attempted-murder charges, the article said.

The surviving animals are expected to be cleaned up and put up for adoption before Christmas.

Copyright 2012 byWPBF.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Comments

The views expressed are not those of this site, this station or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use. WYFF News 4 offers readers the ability to comment on stories with the understanding that these comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or used on WYFF News 4 newscasts. We ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, comments that don’t relate to the story, and any personal remarks. THIS IS IMPORTANT: WYFF News 4 does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not, at times, find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. If you find a comment that is objectionable or offensive, click the flag that appears in the upper right corner when you hover over a comment. Flagged comments may be automatically hidden from comment threads. For comments to appear on the website and/or mobile app, email addresses must be verified through Disqus. We ask the community to monitor this forum with the knowledge that WYFF News 4 does not delete posts based on the content. We are glad to offer commenting on our site but we cannot be responsible for people who abuse the privilege.

The Obama administration will unveil a major climate change plan Monday aimed at a large reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the nation's coal-burning power plants, a senior administration official told CNN.